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We're looking for your thoughts on last night's Hell in a Cell show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to
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We're looking for reports from the live Raw in Wichita tonight, with dark matches, Superstars matches, estimated attendance anything notable not on the TV show. They are advertising Randy Orton vs. John Cena vs. Sheamus locally, as the dark match. The big things on the show is Edge has to apologize and John Cena has to put on a Nexus armband. Johnny Knoxville appears as guest host.

We're looking for reports from Friday and Saturday night's ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia, the Friday night Northeast Wrestling show in Waterbury, CT, as well as last night's TNA house show on Charleston, SC.

Lots of TV tonight. Besides Raw and ROH, the WEC show from last Thursday night with the Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner and Jose Aldo Jr. vs. Manny Gamburyan matches airs at 9 p.m. Eastern and 6 p.m. Pacific on Versus. UFC also airs an old Fight Night (Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard main event) on Spike at 7 p.m.

Several major shows from around the world highlight today's issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The issue, up on the site right now, covers the background and controversies surrounding and following UFC 119, including a business analysis of the show, what the fighters said, a look at the judging, what the people thought about the judging, match-by-match coverage and poll results.

We look at what Dana White said about Frank Mir after the show, the story behind Cro Cop's performance, the Dunham-Sherk judging and the prelims.

We also have a look back at the life and career of Jorge "El Gigante" Gonzalez, the tallest man ever to participate in pro wrestling. We look at some of the other taller athletes in the sport, and why some clicked and others didn't, including what made Andre the Giant so different from the rest of the pack. We look at how Gonzalez got into pro wrestling, his debut, his run with Ric Flair for the world title and how it did, as well as his WWF and Japanese run, as well as why his career was so short. We look at how timing affected what could have been his biggest run.

Besides this issue being on the site right now, we have a second issue available on the site right now from July 1993 and another coming tomorrow. You can access them in the Wrestling Observer listings on the top of the page. You can also get the Observer delivered by mail, with details below. For those who are web site subscribers, not only do we have issues once and in big news weeks, twice every week, but also release one back issue per week, covering 1993.

We also have the controversy going in both behind the scenes and in the public regarding Mistico and CMLL management, including what was said publicly, and how it went down privately regarding Mexico's biggest star of the past five years. We also look at what Paco Alonso said in a closed door meeting to talent as to why he thinks business is down, and why that's probably not the case.

We also have coverage of the Bret Hart appreciation night at Madison Square Garden, the struggles of the Dream promotion to make MMA relevant again in Japan as well as a look at a prime time network special with a boxing doubleheader and how it did.

We've also got coverage of NOAH's return to Budokan Hall. We look at the company's biggest problem, as well as a hot tag team tournament with wrestlers from a number of different companies joining in scheduled for a few weeks from now.

We also have more on Christian's injury and talks regarding his return, more talk of matches at Mania for this year, more on Matt Hardy, update on another wrestler suspended, Update on Ricky Steamboat and Jim Ross' heath issues, Linda McMahon race, talk of a Survivor Series big match, Dwayne Johnson on what he'd do if MMA was around, note on Nexus and NXT, reaction to wrestling by sports fans, Trevor Murdoch has a lot to say about Lance Cade, some hiring and firings this week, business notes from the past week as well as a look at the weekend house shows.

We also look at the ratings for every national MMA and pro wrestling television show in the U.S., as well as the segment-by-segment numbers for the major shows.

We also have results of all the major arena events around the world over the past week.

We also have our look at the major TV show reviews.

The Wrestling Observer ranges from 25,000 to 40,000 words covering pro wrestling and MMA all over the world.

Each issue has coverage and analysis of all the major news, plus every issue breaks major news stories before the Internet sites and hasthe most complete look at the business as a whole anywhere. The Observer is now in its 28th year of being the leading insiderpro wrestling publication in the world. The biggest and most influential names in the pro wrestling industry as well as the MMA industry, frombookers, to promoters to Hall of Fame wrestlers and fighters to the biggest current names, both on camera, and behind the scenes, along withthousands of readers in all 50 states and 30 countries subscribe. Many have subscribed as long as 20 years or more straight. They get the mostdetailed and inside coverage of what is going on all over the world and an accuracy from having the most inside sources that can't be found onthe web. Everyone from Wall Street to the major offices to the TV networks in U.S. and Japan turn to the Observer for what is going on inthe business. If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can get one free classic issue of your choice sent to you today. With a40 issue subscription, you can get two free classic issues sent to you today. Just send your Visa or Master Card order with your name, address,phone number, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to
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or you can order by faxing that information to 408-244-3402. You can also subscribe via paypal at www.paypal.com and using the
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address orsubscribe via check, cash or money order, as well as credit card, by mail, by sending to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228,Campbell, CA 95009-1228.

Also in this week's issue:

--The upcoming annual wrestlers bodybuilding contest

--What major star no-showed all his dates the last week

--Mexico ratings

--A rundown of the Antonio Pena Memorial show including what world title from another promotion is being defended

--One of Mexico's biggest stars on thin ice right now and why

--Three former WWE stars work in Mexico in a main event program

--A look at the ROH PPV taping

--Notes on Bryan Danielson's final shows with the group

--A Hall of Fame wrestler makes a guarantee that if he doesn't fulfill a commitment, he will refund everyone's ticket money to the company's big show this month.

--A look at the New Japan latest big show, upcoming tag team tournament including and other big shows coming

--An interesting question regarding this year's Japanese MVP award

--A documentary about to hit theaters covering a major pro wrestling tournament

--The weirdness of the Inoki Genome Federation

--An Olympic gold medalist looks to be debuting in pro wrestling soon and what movie is his inspiration

--Vince McMahon challenges one of the biggest wrestling stars of the past 40 years to a match in video

--Manami Toyota in the U.S.

--Next Steve Austin movie release

--U.S. woman wrestler gets make over to look more glamorous

--Big drawing indie show

--Terry Funk wrestling again

--Bruno Sammartino returns to Italy

--ROH and HDNet available in many new markets

--Upcoming ROH major matches

--Mick Foley movie

--Kurt Angle talks how much longer he expects to wrestle

--Hulk Hogan's back issues

--Notes on TNA's business meeting with AAA and what talent is involved

--Update on Sting and TNA

--Update on Jeff Hardy

--Lisa Varon and skin cancer

--A look at TNA's Northeast house shows as well as Flair vs. Angle

--UFC big matches changing

--Update on ticket sales for Germany

--Update on Chael Sonnen

--WEC's last big show of the year

--UFC on Sky in U.K.

--Last major Strikeforce show of the year

--Batista in MMA

New subscribers ordering 24 or 40 issues can get free issues from the last 18 years. You can get 2 free back issues by ordering 40 or moreissues and one for 24. Let us know which stories you are most interested in and we'll send the issue with the best coverage of that story. We'vegot coverage of every major PPV event and world wide spectacular, every major star switching promotions, histories of companies like FMW, Rings and New Japan, retirement and obit issues of every major star who fits into those descriptions over the past 18 years, as well as our biggestissue every year, the annual awards issue, and our most controversial issue of every year, the Hall of Fame issue. Our most requested issues inour history are:

*November 17, 1997 (full details of everything leading to the most famouswrestling match finish of modern times at the Survivor Series plus ahistory of in-ring double-crosses)*December 21, 1998 (the complete Vince McMahon-Bret Hart conversationright before the Survivor Series match so you'll know exactly what wassaid--the conversation played in edited form both on the inauguralbroadcast of Confidential as well as in Wrestling with Shadows, buteverything that was said between the two about the match that was goingto take place that same night)

*April 21, 2003 (history of WWF continues with the expansion nationally,the death of the regional territories and the rise of HulkHogan)

*May 12, 2003 (The life and death of Elizabeth, and the rise of fall ofLex Luger)

*June 9, 2003 (Part 1 of history of WWF vs. WCW wars and what many saywas the greatest year in U.S. wrestling; plus a look at Fred Blassie)

*June 16, 2003 (Freddie Blassie through the eyes of his biggest rivalsand friends)

*July 28, 2003 (Part 2 of the history of the WWF vs. WCW war and theplans to make new superstars in the early 90s, what happened, and thenight where the three biggest wrestling companies in the world combinedfor a joint show and what happened)

*August 25, 2003 (2003 Hall of Fame issue with huge profiles on thecontroversial career of Shawn Michaels, Chris Benoit as well ashistorical features on Earl Caddock and Francisco Flores)

*September 22, 2003 (Part 3 of the history of the WWF vs WCW war with theseeds that caused the collapse of the industry in the 90s,Zahorian trial, Gulf War controversy, Flair leaves WCW while holdingworld title and much more)

*October 27, 2003 (The fascinating life of Stu Hart plus the story ofRoad Warrior Hawk)

*February 23, 2004 (History of Guerrero family with Eddy's win over BrockLesnar)

*March 1, 2004 (History of WWF continues with the period that brought thecompany down in early 1992, the mistakes, the real stories and how thebusiness changed)

*March 8, 2004 (History of Wrestlemania, its greatest matches and bestand worst shows as voted both by wrestlers and non-wrestlers andWrestlemania history books)

*July 5, 2004 (A look behind the scenes and Ric Flair's book and hisbackground with Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan)

*July 12, 2004 (A look at more on Ric Flair's book and his comments onBruno Sammartino, Bret Hart and Mick Foley)

*August 16, 2004 (History of the Olympians in pro wrestling)

*August 23, 2004 (2004 Hall of Fame issue and biggest issue of the yearwith huge profiles on Kazushi Sakuraba, Undertaker, Bob Backlund,Masahiro Chono, Ultimo Dragon, Kurt Angle and Tarzan Lopez--this countsas one issue if you are asking for a free issue, but ordered separately,due to size, is $6 in North America and $7 overseas)

*October 4, 2004 (the life and times of Big Bossman; as well as detailsof the life and times of one of the most influential men world wide inpro wrestling history, Jim Barnett)

*November 15, 2004 (the full story of what happened between Kurt Angleand Daniel Puder, plus coverage of the most important week in thehistory of TNA)

*January 24, 2005 (2004 Awards issue, Rock and WWE part company)

*March 14, 2005 (the 50 biggest money players in the history of WWF and alook at their Hall of Fame)

*May 9, 2005 (the life and times of Chris Candido)

*June 20, 2005 (The full story behind Paul Heyman and the death of ECW,as well as coverage of One Night Stand, Hardcore Homecoming andbehind the scenes of both shows)

*July 18, 2005 (death of Shinya Hashimoto and his records with a look atthe fall of New Japan, the Matt Hardy angle, tons of WWE firings,Cornette firing in detail as well as problems of a WWE developmentalterritory in our biggest news issue of the year which is a double-sizedissue and would be $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

*August 24, 2005 (2005 Hall of Fame issue with career profiles of PaulHeyman, HHH and Freebirds plus debut of MMA Hall of Fame)

*September 12, 2005 (History of Mid South Wrestling)

*October 10, 2005 (Life and Times of the Ultimate Warrior)

*November 21, 2005 (Life and Times of Eddy Guerrero and Crusher, doubleissue $6 on its own and $7 overseas)

*January 9, 2006 (The life and times of Superstar Billy Graham, plus NewYear's Eve 2005 coverage)

*January 16, 2006 (2005 Awards double issue, $6 or $7 overseas)

*April 3, 2006 (Story of Ann Calvello and the history of RollerDerby--many called this the best issue of the Observer ever)

*April 10, 2006 (Behind the scenes at the 2006 Wrestlemania/Hall of Fameweek)

*July 24, 2006 (The History of the Von Erichs and World ClassChampionship Wrestling--the most unreal story ever in wrestling)

*September 4, 2006 (The Rise and Fall of Kurt Angle; 2006 Hall of Fameinductions of Eddie Guerrero, Paul Bowser, Masakatsu Funaki, Aja Kong andHiroshi Hase including tons of wrestling history around the world fromthe 20s through the 60s, the evolution of working to not workingin Japan, and a look at Guerrero in hindsight, double issue $6 or $7overseas)

*October 9, 2006 (A look back nine years later at the life and legacy ofBrian Pillman with tons of inside information about what made himtick as his real objectives)

*November 27, 2006 (History of WCW part three, When Bischoff challengedMcMahon to fight; Truth and fiction around Bret Hart signing with WCW andwhy it didn't click)

*December 6, 2006 (details behind Pride's offers to sell promotion andPart four of History of WCW part four, Hogan-Goldberg match and whythere was no rematch, WCW loses NBC network deal in 1999 and the realreasons the company fell apart)

*September 22, 2008 (The amazing career of Killer Kowalski, one of ourmost in-depth bios)

You can also order any of these issues on their own for $4 in NorthAmerica or $5 overseas.

Rates are:

For the United States, it is $12 for 4 issues, $29 for 12, $55 for 24, $91 for 40 and $118 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $13.50for 4, $33 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to
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. For the rest of the world, rates are $15.50 for 4, $41 for 12, $78 for 24, $126 for 40 issues and $163 for52 .

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.We also have available personally autographed copies of Tributes II, our latest book, as well as a DVD that comes with it talking more aboutthe subjects in the book. The book covers the life stories of Lou Thesz, Wahoo McDaniel, Elizabeth, Fred Blassie, Road Warrior Hawk,Andre the Giant, Curt Hennig, Johnny Valentine, Davey Boy Smith, Terry Gordy, Owen Hart, Stu Hart, Gorilla Monsoon, The Sheik and Tim Woods. To get all of those biographies as back issues of the Observer would be a $60 value today. This is a collection of some of the best Observer articles of the past several years in a hardcover, full-color format that is 239 pages. There is also a foreword by Bret Hart. The book price is $12.95 plus $3.50 for shipping costs in the U.S., $10 for shipping costs to Canada and $12 for shipping costs outside North America. You can order the book the same way you order the newsletter.

--Jim Ross is going in for a stent to be put in his heart just as we are writing this and we with him a quick recovery.

--The Linda McMahon/Richard Blumenthal debate takes place at 7 p.m. Eastern time tonight. The debate will air on Foxnews.com

--Linda McMahon, in order to shake Blumenthal up before the debate, started airing a new TV commercial today showing a 2003 speech where Blumenthal said, "When we returned, we saw nothing of this gratitude," in talking about Vietnam, where he never served, with the commercial ending, "If he lied about Vietnam, what else is he lying about?" The New York Times story on it is at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/nyregion/05conn.html?_r=1&hp

--We have a big week on the site when it comes to audio. I'm going to be doing six shows over the next eight days, not to mention the tons of shows Bryan and others will be doing. We'll cover Raw and you can also send e-mail questions to the show at
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for tonight. Wednesday we'll have our mid-week show and am working on a guest. Friday we'll have a special show with Mick Foley as a guest. Saturday night we'll have coverage of the Strikeforce event on Showtime featuring the K.J. Noons vs. Nick Diaz grudge match. And Sunday night we'll have coverage of Bound for Glory from TNA.

--More Spike notes for this week's UFC programming. Wednesday is the big night with Unleashed matches from 7-10 p.m., followed by Ultimate Fighter, and then part one of the Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez prime show. It airs at 11 p.m., replays immediately, and then airs on Thursday night after the TNA block at just after midnight (12:08 a.m.). A 30 minute All Access special with Brock Lesnar airs Thursday night after the Velasquez vs. Lesnar prime time replay.

--Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty were the wrestlers who interfered in last night's Wade Barrett win over John Cena.

--This won't help the Hell in a Cell number. The New York Giants vs. Chicago Bears game last night on NBC did a 14.2 rating and 22 share on the overnights, the highest rating for an NFL game in October in ten years. Interestingly, the show only did a 15.4 rating in the New York market, 12th among the major markets. It did a 39.7 and 54 share in Chicago.

--For those who have Comcast, here is the new channel number for HDNet

Philadelphia - 897

Chicago - 289 or 291

Rockford - 928

Salem/Quincy, MA - 928

Seattle - 707

Portland, OR - 798

If you know any others, please let us know and we'll post them.

--There is a new Steve Austin interview in the U.K. Sun at http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/ He teases that he's healthy and he could wrestle again and used the term "Never say never." about it. Interesting is that he said he now wishes he could have done a run with Hulk Hogan.

--The Blumenthal campaign today pushed that WWE received $10 million in tax credits from the state of Connecticut, an incentive for filming television in the state done to create new jobs, but instead the WWE cut 10% of its work force that year.

--A New York Times story by Nate Silver analyzes various elections. When it comes to Connecticut the claim is both major polls have shown favorable Republican numbers in other races and he believes the race is not as close as has been suggested. However, he said that odds showing Linda McMahon with less than a 10% chance to win are too low and he'd bet on her given those odds.

--Comcast cable was out in Santa Cruz county in California yesterday from 1-7 p.m., so people couldn't have seen the PPV live (they could have purchased a replay).

--Spike TV sent out a press release listing Stephan Bonnar vs. Igor Pokrajac and Demian Maia vs. Kendall Grove as the two main events for the 12/4 show that features the championship match for this season's Ultimate Fighter series. The show will go head-to-head with Strikeforce on the same night.

--There is no Bellator live show on Thursday. They are doing a season highlights show and then finishing up with three straight major shows starting 10/14.

--The Wii version of the AAA video game has been delayed until November. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions hit stores on 10/12.

--ROH is cutting back on the numbers of talent being booked on shows which is why several wrestlers, including Necro Butcher and Austin Aries, are not being used for a while.

--Lots of the WWE wrestlers were at the Texas vs. Oklahoma football game. Jim Ross of course was on the Oklahoma sidelines. Mark Henry and Cody Rhodes were on the Texas sidelines. Other wrestlers were in the stands on the Oklahoma side. Mark Nulty noted on Wrestling Classics a couple of days ago that this game, which is a religion in those two states, will be the first one Scandor Akbar (a Texas high school and college football trivia machine) and Jack Brisco will have missed. (thanks to Timothy Hervey)

--Thumbtack Jack, known in the U.S. for death matches in CZW and IWA East Coast, suffered a broken sternum in a match with Masada on 10/2 in Oberhausen Germany when he tried to reverse a power bomb into a Frankensteiner and hit his head on the mat similar to how Sabu fractured his neck against Chris Benoit in ECW. He continued the match, but was in great pain after it was over, was rushed to the hospital and put through a battery of tests and told him he was lucky he didn't end up paralyzed. He said last night that he was done with wrestling for good. (thanks to Robert Sixt)

--Best TV show of the past week

Impact 20.2%

Smackdown 19.9%

Raw 14.9%

Ultimate Fighter 10.6%

K-1 World Grand Prix 9.9% - considering how few get the station and that it started at 2 a.m., this number is super impressive

--Matt Diaz of the Atlanta Braves was on ESPN First Take today and asked about tripping a fan who ran on the field, which allowed security to catch the kid. He said he wanted to spear him like Goldberg, "but lawsuits kept flashing in my mind, so I just stuck out my foot and let him trip." (thanks to John Patton)

--Platinum Championship Wrestling on 10/6 in Atlanta at The Masquerade headlines with Davey Richards.

--Great Canadian Wrestling on 10/9 in Oshawa, ONT at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall

--Lance Storm talks all kinds of subjects like The Miz, the most demanding physically guy he worked with, training, working out, Bubba Dudley, Michael Cole and favorite authors at http://www.stormwrestling.com/100310.html

--On Eastbound & Down on HBO lst night, Kenny Powers made his debut in the Mexican baseball league and came out to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song, which is hilarious if you think about it. (thanks to Jesse Otawka)

--NWS on Saturday night in Manville, NJ at the VFW Hall headlined by Val Venis, Dawn Marie and Tammy Sytch.

--Forgotten Championship Wrestling on 10/30 in Brooklyn, NY at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church has both a convention and a show with Jimmy Snuka, Awesome Kong, Amazing Red, Romeo Roselli, Sonjay Dutt and Little Guido Maritato.